An application of high performance liquid chromatographic assay for the kinetic analysis of degradation of faropenem.

An isocratic RP-HPLC-DAD procedure was developed and validated for kinetic analysis of degradation of faropenem in bulk drug substance and in tablets. It involved the use of a C-18 analytical column (5 microm particle size, 250 mm x 4.6 mm), flow rate 1.3 ml/min and 50 microl injection volume. The mobile phase consisted of acetate buffer (pH 3.5) - acetonitrile (70:30 v/v). The determination was carried out at the wavelength of 323 nm. Kinetic studies of faropenem degradation in aqueous solutions included hydrolysis, oxidation, photolysis and thermal degradation. A derivative spectrophotometry was used as an alternative method to compare the observed rate constants.